A NIGHT JOURNEY 



399 



latter accident, being seated near the stern with my feet on 

 the bottom of the boat, I felt rather suddenly the cold 

 water above my ankles. A few minutes more and we 

 should have sunk, for a seam had been opened forward 

 under the pile of sugar-cane. Two of us began to bale, 

 and by the most strenuous efforts managed to keep afloat 

 without throwing overboard our cargo. The Indians 

 were obliged to paddle with extreme slowness to avoid 

 shipping water, as the edge of our prow was nearly level 

 with the surface ; but Cardozo was now persuaded to 

 change his seat. The sun set, the quick twilight passed, 

 and the moon soon after began to glimmer through the 

 thick canopy of foliage. The prospect of being swamped 

 in this hideous solitude was by no means pleasant, al- 

 though I calculated on the chance of swimming to a tree 

 and finding a nice snug place in the fork of some large 

 bough wherein to pass the night. At length, after four 

 hours' tedious progress, we suddenly emerged on the open 

 stream where the moonlight glittered in broad sheets on 

 the gently rippling waters. A little extra care was now 

 required in paddhng. The Indians plied their strokes 

 with the greatest nicety ; the lights of Ega (the oil lamps 

 in the houses) soon appeared beyond the black wall of 

 forest, and in a short time we leapt safely ashore. 



A few months after the excursion just narrated, I ac- 

 companied Cardozo in many wanderings on the Solimoens, 

 during which we visited the praias (sand-islands), the 

 turtle pools in the forests, and the by-streams and lakes 

 of the great desert river. His object was mainly to super- 

 intend the business of digging up turtle eggs on the sand- 

 banks, having been elected commandante for the year, 

 by the municipal council of Ega, of the * praia real ' ( ' royal 

 sand-island ') of Shimuni, the one lying nearest to Ega. 

 There are four of these royal praias within the Ega dis- 

 trict (a distance of 150 miles from the town), all of which 

 are visited annually by the Ega people for the purpose of 

 collecting eggs and extracting oil from their yolks. Each 

 has its commander, whose business is to make arrange- 

 ments for securing to every inhabitant an equal chance 

 in the egg harvest by placing sentinels to protect the turtles 

 whilst laying, and so forth. The pregnant turtles descend 

 from the interior pools to the main river in July and 

 August, before the outlets dry up, and then seek in 



